Reviews by Jane Fae

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  13 Minutes (2021)

  Review preview for 13 Minutes

  13 Minutes is a sort of Casualty with tornadoes. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

  The largest tornado on record threatens to ravage a small town, leaving residents with only 13 minutes to find shelter, search for loved ones and fight for their lives.
• 
  1 Billion Orgasms (2018)

  Review preview for 1 Billion Orgasms

  Brent Kinetz and Terence Mickey have produced something quite insightful.

  Story of an engineer who attempted to create a sex toy watch.
• 
  2036 Origin Unknown (2018)

  Review preview for 2036 Origin Unknown

  There are stretches of this film that are interesting, engaging, well done. Over all, however, it feels like an ambitious project that has fallen short.

  When a scientist receives an “Origin Unknown” signal from Mars, she must investigate from mission control 150 million miles away on Earth.
• 
  Acid Test (2021)

  Review preview for Acid Test

  There was a degree to which I found this both too easy to get into and therefore hard to like.

  A coming-of-age rebellion fueled by Riot Grrrl music, a dysfunctional family, and LSD
• 
  A.E.S.O.P. (2019)

  Review preview for A.E.S.O.P.

  The dialogue from writer Johnny Severin is neat, witty, clever, with more than a few culinary references tossed in for the observant.

  In a future where ageing can be prevented, a statistician barred from having romantic relationships because of her job finds herself falling in love.
• 
  After Blue (2021)

  Review preview for After Blue

  Where narrative fails, look for symbolism; and there are symbols aplenty. It’s just not clear that they mean anything coherent.

  It's a distant future, on a savage planet, where only women can survive. The lonely teenager Roxy frees a criminal buried in the sand. Once freed, the woman, who goes by the name of Kate Bush, starts spreading fear and death again.
• 
  Alice (2019)

  Review preview for Alice

  The script is sharp, witty and not afraid to ask awkward questions.

  Alice, a happy and perfect wife and mother has her life turned upside down when she discovers her husband is living a secret life.
• 
  Alien Crystal Palace (2018)

  Review preview for Alien Crystal Palace

  This is a mess. An ambitious mess...but mess nonetheless.

  A crazy scientist is on a quest to create a new, immaculate, androgynous being.
• 
  All About Nina (2018)

  Review preview for All About Nina

  This was raw, visceral stuff, for which we have writer/director Eva Vives to thank.

  A woman wrestles with difficult issues in her personal life as she strives to become a successful comedian.
• 
  Along Came Wanda (2021)

  Review preview for Along Came Wanda

  As a feelgood film about relationships, Along Came Wanda works well.

  A memory jogged by a teapot from an old lover quickly turns into an adventure of discovery for Mary Beth Higgins and her new found friend Wanda as they hit the road in Wanda's RV/Soup Truck.
• 
  Anote's Ark (2018)

  Review preview for Anote's Ark

  This quiet, documentary takes the viewer on an interesting, intriguing journey, ending on a question mark.

  A documentary looking at the impact of climate change on the island nation of Kiribati.
• 
  Aquaman (2018)

  Review preview for Aquaman

  Aquaman is a far from bad way to pass a couple of hours at the cinema

  Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis and must step forward to lead his people and be a hero to the world.
• 
  Army Of One (2020)

  Review preview for Army Of One

  Director Stephen Durham has produced an efficient, gripping revenge movie that ticks all the boxes.

  Out hiking, a Special Forces soldier stumbles onto a cartel's compound. Her husband is killed and she's left for dead. The cartel makes two mistakes, killing her husband and leaving her alive.
• 
  Around The Sun (2019)

  Review preview for Around The Sun

  I can imagine those who enjoyed it wanting to go back and watch again and again.

  Touring a repossessed chateau, a film location scout falls for its flirtatious representative, who recounts the story of an influential book written there. But is their connection for real, or just a projection of the book's characters?
• 
  Asterix: The Secret Of The Magic Potion (2018)

  Review preview for Asterix: The Secret Of The Magic Potion

  It is good to see the women taking charge, though this happens sufficiently often in Asterix that it is close to becoming a trope in itself.

  The village druid enlists the help of Asterix and Obelix to find a young druid to share his secrets with.
• 
  Avengers: Endgame (2019)

  Review preview for Avengers: Endgame

  Directors Joe and Anthony Russo use the length to explore more than one significant theme in depth and to shift tone markedly from hour to hour.

  The remaining Avengers take a final stand.
• 
  Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

  Review preview for Avengers: Infinity War

  Infinity War is a clearing of the decks: opportunity for new characters and plots to emerge; opportunity too for some characters to move on.

  The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
• 
  Amber (2017)

  Review preview for Amber

  Neatly done.

  An obsessed teenager terrorises a member of a boy band, but there's more to their interaction than meets the eye.
• 
  Bastille Day (2016)

  Review preview for Bastille Day

  Almost every action movie nowadays borrows from every other action movie and this one happens to be done incredibly well.

  A CIA agent and a pickpocket attempt to uncover police corruption in Paris with the dubious help of an activist's ex girlfriend
• 
  Bad Detectives (2021)

  Review preview for Bad Detectives

  In vain, I waited for the plot to pick up and the script to gain pace. Or wit.

  Two young women try to solve the murder of their detective grandfathers.
• 
  Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn (2021)

  Review preview for Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn

  At times, the dialogue is well done, scores points. At other times, it felt like we had wandered into a Socratic symposium.

  Emi, a school teacher, finds her career and reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is leaked on the Internet.
• 
  Beasts Clawing At Straws (2020)

  Review preview for Beasts Clawing At Straws

  As a directorial debut from writer and director Kim Yong Hoon, this is about as good as it gets.

  A Louis Vuitton bag stuffed full of cash sends a group of hard-luck lowlifes on a desperate chase for fortune.
• 
  Behemoth (2015)

  Review preview for Behemoth

  The art of Behemoth lies in the way it winds the viewer up in its quintessential narrative.

  Everyday life in a Mongolian community turns into a Dantesque journey. Documentary.
• 
  Bellingcat: Truth In A Post-Truth World (2018)

  Review preview for Bellingcat: Truth In A Post-Truth World

  This is the fascinating tale of the rise of two trends – the citizen journalist, and open-source journalism.

  Looking at open-source investigation and the world of the 'citizen investigative journalist' collective Bellingcat.
• 
  Berlin, I Love You (2019)

  Review preview for Berlin, I Love You

  A series of pieces that each, in its own right, has some merit, but which together never quite gels.

  Ten stories of romance play out against the backdrop of the German capital.
• 
  Big Fish And Begonia (2016)

  Review preview for Big Fish And Begonia

  Once past the strangeness of the narrative, Big Fish And Begonia is beautiful, lyrical in every sense.

  Animated adventure about a girl who turns into a dolphin to visit the world of humans.
• 
  The Big Scary "S" Word (2020)

  Review preview for The Big Scary "S" Word

  All in all, a worthy film, an interesting film, from director Yael Bridge, who has a long track record of making films about the left and has garnered two award nominations along the way for same. Also, though, pretty toothless.

  Consideration of the decades long debate about "socialism".
• 
  Black Box (2021)

  Review preview for Black Box

  Director Yann Gozlan has done a great job here of taking us right up to the line.

  Mathieu is a young and talented black box analyst on a mission to solve the reason behind the deadly crash of a brand new aircraft.
• 
  Black Clover Season One (2017)

  Review preview for Black Clover Season One

  This is not great storytelling. But it is fascinating, compulsive.

  Two orphans, each of whom longs to become the Wizard King, seek paths to greatness - with or without magic.
• 
  Bleeding Steel (2017)

  Review preview for Bleeding Steel

  This is a sci-fi action romp with a sense of humour and tongue firmly in cheek.

  A Special Forces agent is assigned to protect a scientist and his creation from a sinister gang.
• 
  Blood And Money (2020)

  Review preview for Blood And Money

  The scenery, for those that enjoy snow-covered waste, is utterly gorgeous at times.

  A retired veteran hunting in northern Maine stumbles across a dead woman and a large sum of money.
• 
  Brief Story From The Green Planet (2019)

  Review preview for Brief Story From The Green Planet

  Whatever you expected to happen is not about to do so.

  When Tania finds out that her grandma has spent her final years in the caring company of a cute purple alien, she embarks on a journey through small-town Argentina with two close friends to deliver the creature back to its origins.
• 
  Brittany Runs A Marathon (2019)

  Review preview for Brittany Runs A Marathon

  The problem - and it's a massive, elephant in the room style problem - is that it is very hard to tell whether this is a woke film trapped in a judgemental body or vice-versa.

  A woman living in New York takes control of her life – one city block at a time.
• 
  Burn It All (2021)

  Review preview for Burn It All

  Anger, rage and a rapidly rising body count that would put John Wick to shame.

  An enraged woman battles a ring of violent organ smugglers after returning to her hometown to bury her mother.
• 
  Bushwick (2016)

  Review preview for Bushwick

  In the wake of events in Charlottesville in August 2017 it is downright terrifying.

  A young woman teams up with a military veteran to try and survive when insurgents bring war to the streets of New York City.
• 
  A Caribbean Dream (2017)

  Review preview for A Caribbean Dream

  There are some brave decisions here. This is not the entire Shakespeare, but a cut down version, including the key bits and, where necessary, pruning boldly.

  A Caribbean take on A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• 
  Catfight (2016)

  Review preview for Catfight

  The make-up team have clearly been told not to stint on the blood.

  When two old college friends spend time together, their resentment of one another comes to the surface - and gets physical.
• 
  Call Her King (2023)

  Review preview for Call Her King

  With two locations acting as stage for two very different types of action, the film could easily have fractured. It doesn’t.

  After the courthouse is hijacked by the brother of a man she has just sentenced sentenced, a judge must rely on her strength and skills to find a way to end the standoff, save the hostages, and make her escape.
• 
  Captain Marvel (2019)

  Review preview for Captain Marvel

  Cap Marvel is another powerful woman hero to add to the line-up.

  A superhero gets caught up in a galactic war.
• 
  The Captor (2018)

  Review preview for The Captor

  A nice study in group dynamic.

  In 1973, an unhinged American outlaw walked into a bank in Sweden demanding millions in cash in exchange for his hostages. The events that followed would capture the attention of the world and ultimately give a name to a new psychological phenomenon: Stockholm syndrome.
• 
  Casanova Variations (2014)

  Review preview for Casanova Variations

  How much of this is about Casanova? How much about Malkovich and his continuing public self-examination?

  Two stories about the legendary seducer.
• 
  A Christmas Carol (2020)

  Review preview for A Christmas Carol

  In truth, this is yet one more safe retelling of an old favourite. Not radical at all.

  A dance-infused interpretation of the seasonal classic.
• 
  A Christmas Gift From Bob (2020)

  Review preview for A Christmas Gift From Bob

  This is – apologies for the politics – an essentially Panglossian, Whiggish sort of film.

  James looks back at the last Christmas he and Bob spent scraping a living on the streets and how Bob helped him through it.
• 
  Clementine (2019)

  Review preview for Clementine

  What does happen is likely nothing at all like what you expected to happen.

  Reeling from a one-sided break-up, heartbroken Karen breaks into her ex’s lakehouse. There, she strikes up a complicated relationship with provocative younger woman Lana.
• 
  Coded Bias (2020)

  Review preview for Coded Bias

  The real issue set out in Coded Bias.. is that we are stumbling headlong into a world in which major life-changing decisions for every one of us are taken by impersonal unrelenting computer algorithms.

  Considering the racial bias issues of AI and facial recognition.
• 
  Cold Blood (2019)

  Review preview for Cold Blood

  This is a thoughtful, suspenseful film.

  A hit-man lives isolated in a cabin at the edge of a lake. One day, an injured woman arrives in front of his house. To save her, he could well risk his own life.
• 
  Cold Pursuit (2019)

  Review preview for Cold Pursuit

  You might be forgiven for thinking: oh no! This is just Taken with snow! In every sense. But then, the film turns and something not quite right that you had begun to notice about it begins to take hold.

  A snowplow driver seeks revenge against the drug dealers he thinks killed his son.
• 
  Come From Away (2021)

  Review preview for Come From Away

  It's a happy, celebratory sort of musical without a villain.

  The story of 7,000 people stranded in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland after all flights into the US are grounded on September 11, 2001.
• 
  Cop Secret (2021)

  Review preview for Cop Secret

  This film is nothing if not derivative. Except, therein lies its beauty.

  Mismatched buddy cop spoof.
• 
  The Chamber (2016)

  Review preview for The Chamber

  An engaging, riveting watch.

  A submarine endeavours to locate a mysterious item at the bottom of the Yellow Sea off the dangerous shores of the Korean Peninusla. When an explosion causes it to overturn and take on water, the four-man crew enter a pressure cooker situation.